


here there be dragons

by AlexiaBlackbriar13



Series: here there be dragons [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dragon Guides, But with dragons, Dragons, F/M, First Date Set-Up, First Kiss, Fluff, Humor, Island still happened, Like daemons, Oliver Queen Has PTSD, Pre-Relationship, Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-24 04:02:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13205520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexiaBlackbriar13/pseuds/AlexiaBlackbriar13
Summary: It's 2012, post-Island, and Oliver and Felicity have never met before. But their tiny hand-sized dragon guides, Xad and Issa, used to be nestmates.Since the dragons haven't seen each other in a dozen or so years, when they meet up again they transform into a pair of the most cheeky little rascals you could ever imagine.But you know, they're not so bad - they do manage to convince Oliver to ask Felicity out, after all.





	here there be dragons

**Author's Note:**

> Muriel, this is your fault.
> 
> Bev, Moni, Marian, Masque... your faults as well. You encouraged me.
> 
> Tiny hand-sized dragon guides. *shakes head* This is somehow the weirdest and cutest fic idea ever.
> 
> Hope you enjoy xxx

Every functional human being was assigned a dragon guide at the age of eighteen, if determined a useful member of society. Nobody knew where the dragons had come from - but everybody knew that if you met a person with a tiny, hand-sized dragon riding on their shoulder, that person was somebody of importance. The dragons were assigned once you knew your future career path, and were meant to help you on your journey, offering advice and providing assistance when needed. They were incredibly intelligent little creatures, and since they were capable of human speech, it was thought that many of humanity’s greatest triumphs were due to the dragons.

Oliver Queen was assigned a feisty brown dragon by the name of Xaddrosdis when he came of age. He had no idea what he wanted to do in the future - he preferred to live in the moment, and the moment often involved alcohol, loud parties and girls - but it turned out that money could buy almost anything. It was strange to think that you could ‘buy’ a dragon guide, but his parents had in fact just paid off the numerous people who ran the Assignment department

Xaddrosdis, who Oliver nicknamed Xad for short, because dragons had ridiculously long, complicated names, very much disproved of the young Queen’s adventures in drinking, cheating and partying. He made sure he told Oliver that on a daily basis. But Oliver didn’t listen to him. Why should he? He was just a tiny dragon, barely the length of his hand, who constantly needed body warmth due to his ectotherm nature.

The turning point for Oliver and Xaddrosdis’ relationship came in the form of the sinking of the Queen’s Gambit. For the first time perhaps in his life, Oliver listened to Xad’s advice, and didn’t take Sara Lance aboard with him. He broke up with Laurel just before departing, finally recognising how toxic their relationship was and saying that she could do much better than him, claiming that he himself needed some space to figure some things out in his own life.

Robert’s dragon drowned in the sinking. Xad managed to survive, but was so weak that he couldn’t even move, he just curled up into a ball in Oliver’s arms and tried desperately to regain some heat, as being plunged into the freezing cold waters of the North China Sea had nearly killed him. Oliver found himself relying more than ever on his own dragon guide when his father shot himself in the head directly in front of him, telling his son to _survive_ , to _right his wrongs_.

Both Oliver and his dragon suffered horrifically during those five years of hell. Whilst the archer’s body was physically marred by the experience in the form of increased muscle mass, scars and burns, Xad’s small form was changed also, dangerously sharp spines growing along his spine and tail. They were both transformed into hardened, lethal warriors by the end of that half a decade of cold, misery and darkness. To say that they were different when they returned to Starling City was such a gross understatement it was almost funny.

His mother seemed to want to ignore Oliver’s official diagnosis of PTSD, depression and anxiety from Doctor Lamb upon his homecoming, acting as if everything was the same as before he’d left on the Gambit five years ago. He wondered how long she would pretend she didn’t see how her own guide, a small spineless indigo dragon named Vaephay, cowered and shook in the presence of Oliver and Xad. Walter was more respectful of Oliver’s boundaries, listening to his black dragon Noildriar’s advice to back off and give the archer and his own guide their space. Thea was just… a pushy, moody teenager. As she was sixteen, she didn’t have a dragon guide to warn her off invading Oliver’s privacy, so persistently asked about life on the island; either she saw and didn’t care how his eyes became glazed over, muscles stiffening as unpleasant flashbacks set in, or she wasn’t paying enough attention to notice.

Tommy, Sara and Laurel were in Alaska. _Alaska_. They’d been in the middle of a three-week skiing vacation when it had been announced that Oliver was alive. The three of them weren’t going to be back for another week or so due to extremely bad weather. If they attempted to leave their resort during the blizzard that was trapping them on top of the mountain, their dragon guides would be in mortal peril - not to mention they would be at risk themselves.

Oliver didn’t mind. He liked being alone. Or as alone as he could be with Xad at his side.

His mother and stepfather did not approve of his preference for solitude. They hired him a bodyguard, a tall, strong man by the name of John Diggle, who didn’t have a dragon guide. Oliver suspected, however, that Diggle had in fact been assigned a dragon in the past, but his guide had been killed in action while his human had been out fighting a war for the American special forces. As soon as that was sorted, they whisked Oliver and Xad out of the mansion and to Queen Consolidated.

Oliver wasn’t stupid. He knew that Moira and Walter wanted to get him involved in the company, probably in some sort of managerial position, but he wasn’t interested. His nightly activities as the Vigilante meant he could not afford any distractions. Sitting at a desk for seven hours a day as part of a responsibility he didn’t want, taking up a job that somebody else who was most likely far more qualified and enthusiastic than him could fulfil to a much greater agenda, did not sound very appealing.

“That man has a secret relationship with his secretary,” Xad muttered into Oliver’s ear as they exited the CMO’s office after greeting him. He crawled down from where he’d been sitting calmly on the archer’s shoulder and clambered onto his right arm, which Oliver held to his chest to keep the dragon upright. Digging the spines of his tail into Oliver’s Henley, the dragon added quietly, “And he’s cheating on his wife.”

“How’d you know?” Oliver replied in a whisper, glancing around and flashing wide, fake smiles at everybody who passed him in the corridor. Walter was leading him to his own office, the CEO’s office now.

“He’s turned the picture of a woman, presumably his wife, on his desk at a slight angle away from him and he was trying to hide the bra of a woman much smaller than his wife in one of his drawers when we first entered. Plus, when he came out I looked over at his secretary’s desk and she’s not very obviously not wearing a bra. Oh, and her lipstick is smudged. She’s also missing a heel which I’m pretty sure I saw underneath the CMO’s desk.”

For a brief moment, Oliver’s lips ticked up into a small, genuine smile. He raised one hand to stroke a single finger over Xad’s head. The dragon purred in response, arching up into his touch but being careful not to jerk his head in such a way that Oliver’s fingers would get caught on his spines. “You’re too observant for your own good.”

“Saved us on Lian Yu a couple of times.”

“True.”

“What are you two talking about?” Moira questioned, turning around with a crease in her brow.

Oliver and Xad exchanged looks. “Dad used to let us have soda in the office,” the archer said shortly. Xad didn’t usually like talking to people other than the human he was meant to be guiding, and Oliver couldn’t blame him - socialising was taxing work. “We were just remembering… the last time we were here.”

Moira sobered immediately at the mention of her late husband. She gave him a sad smile, but didn’t get the chance to say anything in response as they reached the CEO’s office. Walter held the door open as they entered, and upon walking in, Oliver instantly froze, gaze zeroing in on the office’s pre-occupant: a beautiful woman with gorgeous blonde hair pulled back into a high ponytail. The dress she was wearing was bright and colourful, and her lipstick was fuschia pink to match. Head whipping around, her blue eyes widened and she hastily stood from her seat in front of the CEO’s desk.

“I’m so sorry, Mr Steele, I didn’t know you were bringing your family in today, I didn’t mean to intrude,” she stuttered, fingers fumbling together. Oliver couldn’t help but notice her nails were painted a stark magenta.

“Nonsense, Felicity, you were in here first,” Walter replied. “And it should be me apologising - I have to admit, I completely forgot about our meeting today.”

“It’s alright, we can reschedule,” the woman, _Felicity_ , smiled. “I’ll have Jerry contact Katherine about - oh, Issalalth, no! What are you -!?”

A white streak darted from her shoulder towards Oliver, tiny wings flapping frantically. To the archer’s shock, Xad perked up on his arm, jumping to his claws and then launching off his human towards the white streak. The two collided mid-air, wings beating, and for a terrible moment Oliver thought that the two dragon guides were fighting - but no, they were just greeting each other enthusiastically, nipping and trilling and nuzzling at each other in mid-air. Oliver’s gaze flew over to Felicity, and she appeared just as astonished as he was.

“Xad,” Oliver called firmly, at the same time Felicity said sharply, “Issa!”

The two dragons broke apart, chirping sadly as they returned to the shoulders of their humans. Oliver shot Felicity a puzzled look. She shrugged at him. Walter and Moira also looked shocked and confused. Nobody knew why the two dragons had reacted the way they had upon seeing each other. His mother’s and stepfather’s dragons hadn’t shifted from their perches on their humans’ shoulders, and were, in fact, eyeing the two other dragons with disdain.

“What was that about?” Oliver hissed, but Xad just hid his face in the crook of his neck and didn’t answer.

“That was strange,” Moira finally spoke aloud.

“She doesn’t usually respond to other dragons like that, I don’t know what’s got into her, I’m sorry,” Felicity said nervously. The white dragon leaned in to whisper in her ear before curling around her neck, half vanishing. Whatever her guide told her, Felicity was surprised to hear it. “Huh. Apparently Issa and… Xad? Used to be nestmates. They used to be best friends.”

Oliver blinked. “They did?” He glanced over to Xad, who was hanging off his shirt now. The little dragon nodded shyly. “Oh. And I suppose they haven’t seen each other in -”

“A dozen or so years,” Felicity sighed. “So it makes sense that they were excited to see each other again.”

Taking a step forwards, Oliver held his hand out with a genuinely friendly smile. To be honest, he couldn’t see any reason why he should be wary or cautious around Felicity. His first impression of her was that she was a truthfully approachable, considerate and cheerful human being. “Hi, I’m Oliver Queen.”

Blushing, she nodded, shaking his hand as she agreed hastily, “Of course. I know who you are, you're Mr Queen.”

“No, you can just call me Oliver. Mr Queen was my father,” he corrected.

“Right, but he's dead.” Felicity froze, looking horrified at herself. Her dragon guide snorted, a little puff of smoke erupting from her snout as she flapped her white wings, nudging at her human to urge her to try and rectify her mistake. Felicity just began digging herself into an even bigger hole. “I mean, he drowned. And you didn't, which means you can just… stand there… and listen to me babble. Which will end. In three... two, one.”

Oliver released a laugh of actual amusement. Moira and Walter stared at him as if he’d grown a second head. Even Xad jerked, claws scratching his scarred skin underneath his shirt as he chirped in bemusement. Whether she knew it or not, Felicity was adorable when she was flustered. Looking startled by his laughter, the blonde shifted on the spot, fearful and ashamed expression morphing into one of embarrassment at her ramble. As she shifted her weight, however, her white dragon’s head popped up from behind her neck, and the little winged creature made a flying leap across the small gap between the two humans, latching her claws into the archer’s shirt before scrambling up onto his shoulder to start nuzzling and cuddling with Xad again.

“Oh my god, I’m sorry,” Felicity groaned, reaching out to scoop up her dragon guide sheepishly.

“It’s okay,” Oliver reassured her. “They haven’t seen each other in a while. I don’t mind.”

He was able to examine the white dragon a little closer as Issa snuggled up with Xad; she had six limbs, four legs and two wings unlike Xad, whose wings acted as his front two legs. She was very sleek and spineless, her white scales having a yellow-greenish shimmer to them as light reflected off her. 

“As long as you don’t actually mind.”

“I don’t, it’s okay. So, Felicity, I thought I saw your name plaque on an office earlier on this floor - you’re the CTO?”

Felicity bowed her head with a smile, flicking a lock of stray hair behind her air and tightening her ponytail. “Um, I guess I am, technically.”

“We’re merging the old IT department with our new Applied Sciences division over the next two months,” Walter piped up, sliding past them so he could settle himself in his chair behind his desk. “By Christmas, Miss Smoak will be our new Head of Applied Sciences and Technology.”

“And the youngest person in history to hold an executive position in a Fortune 500 company,” Moira added, taking her own seat.

“Impressive,” Oliver complimented. The two miniature dragons were still playing on his shoulder, holding most of his attention, but he didn’t miss the way that Felicity blushed. “So if I spill a latte on a laptop or anything -”

“I’m your girl. Not - not your _girl_ girl. But… you know… your girl.” Her blush didn’t fade, and she reached out a hand with a whistle. Her dragon jumped off Oliver’s shoulder into her palm, nuzzling Xad one last time before returning to her human. “It was nice meeting you, Mr Que - Oliver, but I’ve got a meeting in fifteen minutes and I’ve got to quickly read over my prep notes. Walter, I’ll ask Jerry to contact Katherine about rearranging our meeting for a time that’s most convenient to both of us.”

“Don’t suggest late in the evening again, Felicity,” Walter admonished her lightly. “I only allowed our eight pm meeting last week because you let my driver take you home afterwards.”

“I’ll have Jerry ask about what mornings you have free, then,” Felicity replied. “Mrs Queen -”

“It was lovely seeing you, Miss Smoak,” Moira interrupted her, shooting her such a pointed look that it was a clear dismissal. Oliver glared a little bit at his mother. She didn’t need to be rude.

Felicity swiftly made her exit from the office, clutching her dragon in her hand. As she reached the door, the little white dragon wiggled free from her grasp and scampered up her shoulder, gazing back at the Queen family and trilling wistfully at Xad. Xad chirped back at her, puffing out his wings. Within seconds, Felicity was gone.

And the moment the blonde and her white dragon stepped out of the room, Oliver stopped caring about Queen Consolidated apart from the that Felicity worked there.

His mother and stepfather were very disappointed in his blatant disinterest in working for the company, but didn’t pressure him into taking a position, to his shock. Maybe they were finally starting to understand that the archer needed his own space, craved the freedom to make his own decisions with the aid of his dragon guide. Neither of them spoke to Oliver as Diggle drove them home, and they sat in frigid silence. When they arrived back at the Queen mansion, the archer immediately retired to his bedroom so that he could ditch his bodyguard by jumping out the window.

He headed to the Foundry on his Ducati and suited up for a hard night of patrols through the Glades. Xad never accompanied him when he went out as the Hood - if he was caught, or pictured with the Vigilante, it would be far too easy for the police to identify him as Oliver’s dragon guide, and therefore link Oliver to the Vigilante. His dragon usually spoke to him over comms, however, providing intel and occasionally directions and advice if required to. For a small dragon, he could type on a keyboard using his wing claws remarkably well. 

What was strange, however, was by the time that Oliver came back, Xad had disappeared from the Foundry. The archer wasn’t that worried; Xad knew how to defend himself and could easily avoid predators and detection. He didn’t need an explanation why the dragon had flown off. Sometimes everything was too loud, too rushed, and became too overwhelming. That was when some major alone time was needed, and if Xad needed to go off by himself to get some space, Oliver was alright with that. The only thing that concerned him was that Xad hadn’t informed him he was heading off alone before doing so. The dragon always came back though after a couple of hours, so Oliver decided to call it a day and go home.

The next morning, Oliver woke up with the clear absence of extra weight on his stomach from where Xad normally curled up and slept. He rose from his prone, alert position on the floor in between his bed and window, sharp gaze sweeping across the room searchingly. His dragon was nowhere to be seen. Xad generally entered the bedroom via the window when coming back alone, so it was when Oliver checked his line of salt by the window, which lay undisturbed, that he began to worry. His dragon hadn’t returned at all last night. Where had he gone? Where could he possibly be?

“Morning,” Thea mumbled through her toast as Oliver strolled into the kitchen, still attempting to hunt down any clues as to where Xad had gone. “Surprised you’re awake. It’s not even seven and you went out last night.”

“Went running,” Oliver told her.

“No kidding. Where’s your winged shadow?”

“I don’t know,” the archer replied, and the anxious tone of his voice seemed to alert his little sister to the fact that he was genuinely worried about him. “Have you seen him?”

“Not since yesterday morning,” Thea responded. “When did you see him last?”

“He went out flying last night by himself because he wanted some space,” Oliver lied, but it was essentially the truth - that was what Xad usually did when he vanished, after all. “He didn’t come back.”

“I’m sure he’s fine. Just… lost track of time or something.”

“What’s going on?” Walter asked, slipping through the doorway past Oliver with a coffee mug in hand, looking as if he was about to refill it. Noildriar was balancing sleepily on his shoulder, black wings wrapped around himself in a warm cocoon.

“Xaddrosdis is missing,” Thea provided, taking another bite of her toast.

“Since when?”

“Last night,” Oliver answered.

Walter paused in his pouring of coffee, exchanging a troubled look with his black dragon. Snorting, Noildriar stretched his wings out, informing them, “I’ll find Vaephay and then she and I will go and search for him.” He dove off the Brit’s shoulder and winged it out of the room. Oliver wasn’t sure whether or not the dragon heard his murmured thank you.

Squeezing his shoulder lightly, Walter tried to reassure, “I’m sure Xad is fine, Oliver.”

“It was cold last night,” was all the archer replied with, crossing his arms and clenching his hands into fists in agitation. Xad would have definitely needed Oliver’s body heat to keep himself warm, and if he hadn’t found a source of heat sometime during the night, there was a chance that the dragon was collapsed somewhere, too weak to fly due to how cold he was. It made Oliver sick just thinking about it.

“Come on, let’s go for a walk outside in the gardens,” Thea suggested. “Take your mind off it. I’m certain Xad’s okay, Oliver; he’s an intelligent dragon. I mean, he survived and kept you alive on the island for five years. There’s no point getting yourself worked up into a state.”

“Don’t you have school?”

“It’s Saturday.”

“It is?”

“How do you not know what day of the week it is?”

“They all just sort of… blur together, to be honest.”

As they walked together to the front door, pulling on shoes and jackets as it was still a bit windy and cold outside, the doorbell rang. Diggle had arranged to arrive at nine, and there weren’t any scheduled deliveries. Frowning, Oliver opened the door. His jaw practically dropped, oxygen rushing out of his lungs as sheer relief flooded his body.

“Hi,” Felicity Smoak greeted him, sounding resigned. She was wearing casual clothes; a pair of skinny jeans, tan boots and a blue parka. What drew Oliver’s attention were the two dragons staring guiltily back at him, huddled inside the faux fur collar hood. One of the dragons was distinctly white, and the other… had his brown spines tangled in the fabric of the hood, and was trying to hide behind the smaller white dragon. “I have your dragon.”

“I can see that,” Oliver replied, stunned.

“First things first, I did _not_ steal him.”

“I know that,” he assured her.

“He turned up at my apartment last night with literal icicles hanging off his wings,” the blonde explained. “He came looking for Issa. They were… obviously a lot closer friends when they were younger than we thought, considering Xad was willing to risk his life to see her again.”

The archer reached forwards with his hand to scoop his dragon out of Felicity’s hood. “Is he alright?” he questioned worriedly. As he picked up Xad, the blonde’s white dragon Issa jumped into his palm as well, nuzzling at the brown dragon.

“Fine now,” Felicity responded. “It took a while to warm him up, but Issa helped with that. She’s a firebreather.”

“But she’s white,” Oliver said, surprised. He stroked over both of the little dragons’ heads with a single finger. White dragons were usually breathed shards of ice, rather than fire. It was unheard of for a white firebreather dragon to exist.

Felicity sheepishly ran her fingers through her hair, which was loose and falling over her shoulders in waves. “Yeah… I don’t think they realised she was such a rare breed of dragon when they assigned her to me.”

“I was the runt,” Issa piped up from Oliver’s hand. Her voice was silky smooth but there was a warmth to it, like honey rum. “Nobody ever expects the runt to be special.”

“I knew you were special,” Xad protested, nudging her as he arched a wing and rested it on her back.

“You were the only one,” Issa huffed.

“You know, your dragon’s quite the rascal,” Felicity informed Oliver, smiling. “He stole my pillow last night.”

“Yeah, he hogs the blankets,” Oliver replied, but secretly he was astonished, because usually Xad acted quite reserved and kept to himself around strangers. To hear that he was comfortable enough around Felicity to start acting like his normal self - which was a cheeky, sly little dragon - told Oliver that Felicity was somebody he could trust. Somebody he could rely on not to betray on. “I’m sorry he interrupted your night. He didn’t even tell me he was going to see you and Issa.”

“It wasn’t planned,” Xad grumbled, hooking his claws into Oliver’s jacket so he could clamber up onto his shoulder. He urged the smaller white dragon to join him, helping her up using his tail. “I just… wanted to see her again.”

“That’s kind of sweet, you’ve got to admit,” Felicity said.

“It is. But next time, please tell me before you decide to fly off,” Oliver told his dragon. “As much as I hate to admit it, I was worried.”

“Sorry,” Xad muttered, butting his muzzle into Oliver’s jaw.

Thea, who had been standing behind Oliver during their conversation, cut in questioningly, “Who’s this?”, leaning around her brother and narrowing her eyes suspiciously at Felicity.

Blushing, Felicity seemed to struggle with a response, so Oliver turned and shot his sister a look to back down. “Felicity’s the acting CTO at QC,” he explained. “We met yesterday when I went with Mom and Walter to visit the offices. Xad and her dragon, Issa, used to be nestmates and haven’t seen each other in a dozen or so years, so when Xad flew off last night he went to Felicity’s to visit Issa.”

Thea blinked, and her reserved expression immediately transformed into a more friendly, welcoming one. “Hi, I’m Thea,” she introduced herself, stepping out from behind Oliver. “Although you likely -”

“- already knew that,” Felicity finished with a grin. “Nice to meet you.”

“So you came to drop off Oliver’s dragon?”

“Oh, well… I actually have a meeting with Mr Steele in ten minutes or so in his home office - at least, that’s what the email his assistant send mine said. I thought I’d come a little bit earlier to reunite Oliver and Xad.”

Thea held her arm out. “I can take you through to Walter’s office,” she offered. “We can grab some coffee on the way, if you’d like.”

“That sounds incredible,” Felicity replied. “But, uh… Issa…”

The white dragon was snuggled up with Xad on Oliver’s shoulder, looking as if she wasn’t prepared to move. Xad aimed a pleading look his human’s way, resting his head on top of Issa’s protectively and possessively. The two dragons didn’t want to be separated anytime soon.

“I can look after Issa during your meeting,” he suggested. “These two want to stay together. Thea and I were about to take a walk around the gardens so they can come with us.”

“Really? That would be great, thank you so much. I shouldn’t be long, maybe half an hour.”

“It’s okay, take as long as you need,” Oliver smiled. “You looked after Xad last night - probably kept him alive - it’s no problem keeping an eye on Issa.”

“She definitely needs somebody to watch her.”

“Hey!” the white dragon protested, glaring halfheartedly,

Felicity raised an eyebrow. “Do you remember the soap incident?”

Issa yelped, scuttling behind Oliver’s neck and using her tail to anchor herself there as she hid from her human’s gaze. “We don’t talk about that!”

“Ooh, I want to hear about this,” Xad laughed, tucking his wings in.

“Nooo!” Issa whined.

“Don’t worry, I’ll save the embarrassing stories for another occasion,” Felicity said, winking. “Now, Thea, you said something about coffee?”

Linking her arm with the blonde’s, Thea nodded and replied seriously, “Don’t worry, girl, I’ve got you covered. I’ll be back in five, Oliver.”

“We’ll wait.”

As soon as both Thea and Felicity vanished around the corner towards the kitchen, both Xad and Issa dove off his shoulder, flaring their wings out and beating them to hover directly in front of Oliver’s face. The archer adjusted his jacket, watching as the two dragons looked over at each other, as if they were having a silent conversation. Issa flew around Oliver, examining him, before she landed and balanced on the bannister of the grand staircase. Xad gracefully touched down beside her.

“You should ask Felicity out,” the white dragon said.

Oliver stared at her incredulously. “Excuse me?”

“You heard her perfectly well,” Xad responded. “And I agree with Issa. You should ask Felicity out on a date.”

“Why?” the archer asked, puzzled.

“Because you like her,” Xad replied simply.

“And she likes you,” Issa added.

“How do you know?”

Xad wrinkled his snout. “We can smell it.”

“Messy, messy pheromones,” Issa nodded.

Oliver glanced between the two dragons before answering honestly, “I don’t think I’m good enough for her.”

Xad and Issa both paused.

The white dragon tilted her head. “Yeah, fair enough.”

“You’re not.”

“But nobody is, really.”

“Right, nobody is.”

“But… you’re better than most people,” Issa decided.

“Definitely.”

“PTSD and all.”

“Yep.”

“Absolutely.”

“You two are freaking me out a bit here,” Oliver said.

Issa rolled her eyes, settling on her haunches as she folded her wings into her sides comfortably. “Look, Oliver, you’re a good guy, whether you think so or not. You like Felicity. I have the feeling that if you and she went out together, you would treat her well. So you should ask her out on a date.”

The archer shook his head, aghast. “Why are you so insistent on this?”

Issa growled, dipping her head down and ruffling her wings. Xad shushed her gently, nudging her to provide some comfort.

“There’s another guy,” Xad replied for the white dragon. “And Issa doesn’t like the look of him.”

“Okay, who is this other guy?”

“Ray Palmer,” Issa seethed.

“Who’s he?”

“You don’t know who Ray Palmer is?”

“Stranded on a deserted island for five years,” Xad reminded her.

“Oh, right. Well, he’s a slimy billionaire with shady interests in high-spec tech. Over the last couple of months, he’s been arranging with Mr Steele to become one of the main investors in the new Applied Science and Technology Department. And judging by every conversation and interaction the sleazeball has had with my human since they started negotiating the investment deal…” Issa bared her fangs. “He’s trying to sink his claws into Felicity.”

“And you don’t like him?”

“Did you not hear anything she just said?” Xad asked, cocking his head in such a way that Oliver knew the dragon was technically raising an eyebrow at him sassily. “What part of ‘slimy’, ‘shady’ and ‘sleazeball’ did you not understand?”

“Wait, so you want me to ask Felicity out on a date -”

“So she doesn’t accept Palmer’s offer of dinner when he asks,” Issa completed. “Because he _will_ ask. Most likely on Monday after the board meeting he’s been invited to attend.”

“I’m trying not to feel offended here,” Oliver said.

“Look, buddy, it was either this, or I pretend to catch a whiff of some dragon nip, go crazy and bite Palmer’s ass in the middle of the board meeting.” Issa winged it over to Oliver’s shoulder. “And frankly, I don’t fancy rump of slimy billionaire for lunch on Monday. Xad’s been telling me about you, and frankly I think you’re a decent guy and worthy enough to go on a date with my human.”

“Thanks?”

“You’re welcome. So are you gonna ask my human out or not?”

“You are aware that even if I do ask Felicity out on a date, she could still turn me down,” Oliver reminded her.

“She won’t.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Because she was hacking into and deleting insulting articles about you post-island from media sites for three hours last night, and you only do that for a guy if you like him.”

Oliver had to take a moment to process that, touched to think that Felicity would do that for him when they barely knew each other. Before he could respond, however, Thea came skipping back into the foyer, ready to head out into the gardens. Xad and Issa made a mad dash for the pockets of the archer’s denim button-up shirt, curling up so only their heads were sticking out and exposed.

Thea halted mid-stride, narrowing her eyes. “What were you three talking about?”

“Nothing,” Oliver replied quickly at the same time Xad responded with a smirk, “Oliver asking Felicity out on a date.”

“You’re lucky you haven’t got any massive, important secrets, Ollie, because Xad would just straight up blurt them out at any given opportunity.”

“Oh, I think you’d be surprised at how good at secret keeping Xad and Oliver actually are,” Issa murmured, casting a knowing look up at the archer.

Oliver froze, his lungs feeling as if they were seizing. He stared down at the little white dragon, and to his horror, she nodded in confirmation before she winked and wiggled back down into his pocket. But if Issa knew about Oliver being the vigilante… did that mean Felicity did too? Xad shot him an anxious look, claws pricking the archer’s skin through the pocket fabric.

“You look like you just swallowed a frog,” Thea observed, frowning.

“I fancy a frog,” Xad piped up. “I’m hungry.”

“We just ate an hour ago,” Issa huffed. “We shared a five-ounce flank steak between us.”

“Still hungry.”

“How?”

“He does normally eat a five-ounce steak by himself,” Oliver informed her. He opened the front doors and allowed Thea to step out into the cold morning air before following behind her. Sticking his hands into his pockets, they began walking at a comfortable pace along the driveway.

Issa poked her head out and stared at the spined dragon confusedly. “How are you not fat?”

“Island diet,” Xad replied. “Tubers, roots, the occasional fish or wild bird. Works well if you’re trying to lose weight.”

“Or gain muscle mass.” Thea cast a glance over at her brother. “You have abs now. You didn’t before.”

“Steroids,” Oliver said. “In the tubers and roots.”

Xad and Issa snickered. Thea did not appear impressed.

They strolled around the gardens together for around forty minutes, Oliver and Thea managing some small talk while the dragons spoke quietly to each other. Both of the guides crawled out of the archer’s shirt pockets halfway through the work, taking to the skies to circle above the two humans, bumping into each other playfully as they barrel-rolled and dived, showing off their flying skills. Thea, to Oliver’s relief, didn’t broach the subject of her brother potentially dating Felicity. Maybe it was because she could sense he was anxious about that particular topic. Whatever the reason, he was grateful that she didn’t press him for information and just allowed him to mull it over in his mind.

Because Oliver definitely had a lot to think about. Sure, he would like to go out on a date with Felicity. He knew that he liked her. She was sweet and kind. She didn’t seem to have any expectations of him and spoke to him as an equal. So yeah, going to dinner with Felicity sounded great. But he was still unsure that he was worthy of her. She was amazing. Oliver was broken. He was scarred, physically and mentally. Felicity deserved someone better than a damaged shipwreck survivor who moonlighted as a vigilante.

They arrived back at the house just as Walter swung the doors open, Felicity in the doorway next to him. Issa chirped and squirmed out of Oliver’s hand, as he’d been holding the two dragons in his palm close to his chest on the walk back. She rushed towards her human, diving into her hood and purring as she nipped at Felicity’s ear. Xad whined, wanting to follow the white dragon, but instead he jumped up onto Oliver’s shoulder, hanging on there with his claws.

“Hi!” Felicity said, grinning. “How was your walk?”

“Cold,” Thea answered, squeezing her arm as she slipped inside. “My socks are soaked, I need to go and change. It was nice to meet you, Felicity.”

“Bye, Thea!” The blonde turned back to the archer as his little sister disappeared up the staircase behind her. “Xad and Issa have fun?”

“I hope so.”

“We did,” Issa nodded.

“A lot of fun,” Xad agreed, buffing his chest out.

“I’ll leave you to accompany Miss Smoak on her way out, Oliver,” Walter said. His black dragon guide was back, curled around his neck with his head tucked beneath the Brit’s jaw. 

“Thank you for meeting with me on a Saturday morning, Mr Steele.”

“It was a pleasure. Both of our schedules are quite hectic, so I’m glad that our assistants were able to figure something out, even if it was at the weekend when we’re officially not working. Felicity, I’ll see you on Monday for the board meeting.”

“Goodbye, Mr Steele.”

Walter smiled at her, looking over at Oliver and saying, “I’ll see you later, son.” He then took his leave, heading into the house and leaving Oliver and Felicity alone at the doors with their dragons.

Felicity hurriedly closed the front doors. “Don’t want to let any cold air into the house.”

“I’ll walk you to your car,” Oliver offered.

“Thank you, but I should be okay,” the blonde responded. “It’s just around the corner.”

There was a beat of silence. Not awkward, but they both just stared at each other, wondering what to say next.

“I should - I should go,” Felicity muttered, turning towards the steps.

Without even realising what he was doing, the archer lanced out and caught her arm, stopping her from leaving. Hesitating, Oliver started, “Felicity, um…”

She gazed at him intently, waiting.

“Sorry, I’m not… um, would you like to go to dinner with me?”

Felicity blinked at him in shock.

“He’s serious,” Xad assured her, before she could ask. “Totally serious.”

“Oh,” she said.

“We don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Oliver rushed out, because she had a strange look on her face that was starting to make him feel nervous. “I just… thought…” He choked on his words for a couple of seconds, and then finally managed, “Date.”

Ducking her head shyly, Felicity tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her air, lips ticking up into a small smile. “That… sounds nice.”

Oliver breathed out. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Issa was doing a little happy dance on her human’s shoulder, wings flapping joyously.

“Dinner?” the archer suggested.

“Sure. I can ask my assistant to book us a table at that new Italian restaurant a block from QC, if you’d like.”

“That’s great.”

“Great. Um, when are you free?”

“Well, it’s really down to when you’re free, you’re the bustling, busy CTO after all.”

“I have meetings and business dinners every evening next week so the earliest I’m going to be available is tomorrow night.”

“I’m free then.”

“So Italian? Tomorrow night? Should we say seven?”

Oliver nodded, still stunned that she had agreed to go out with him.

“I’ll see you there, then,” she smiled.

“Looking forward to it,” he said.

They stood facing each other for another moment or so, just grinning stupidly at each other.

Rolling her eyes, the white dragon darted forwards on Felicity’s shoulder, raised her snout to the ceiling and quipped loudly, “For god’s sake, just kiss already!”

Immediately, both Oliver and Felicity blushed, embarrassed.

“Issa, shut up,” Felicity hissed.

“Nope, I’m in agreement!” Xad shouted. “You two should kiss!”

“You’re not going to stop yelling until we do, are you?” Oliver shook his head, chuckled in amusement.

“NOPE!” Issa yelped, jumping up and down excitedly.

Felicity laughed. “They are our dragon guides,” she told Oliver. “They are meant to provide us with advice to follow up on.”

“Yeah, they know what’s best for us,” Oliver nodded.

He stepped forwards, winding an arm around Felicity’s waist as he leaned in and gently pressed his lips to hers. She instantly responded, wrapping an arm around his neck and going up onto her tiptoes to pull him closer to her. The kiss lasted a few seconds before they both broke away, breathless, and Oliver immediately found himself missing and desperately craving the warmth and fluttery feeling in his chest their embrace had triggered. Felicity slowly pulled away, quickly dropping one last chaste kiss on his cheek before allowing her arm to fall. Her lips were swollen a little bit and Oliver’s eyes flitted between them and her beautiful eyes, which were shining.

Xad and Issa wing high-fived, whooping.

“Happy?” Felicity asked her dragon.

“So many messy, messy pheromones,” Issa responded dreamily, smirking at Oliver. She nuzzled Xad in farewell and then slid down Felicity’s parka into one of her pockets. “See you tomorrow, Xad, Oliver!”

“Your dragon is a troublemaker,” the archer informed Felicity, “But she’s pretty charming.”

“You know, the more time Issa and Xad spend together, the more I can see those two being nest mates when they were younger,” Felicity laughed.

“They’re a handful.”

“They’re our handful, though.”

“You love us,” Xad said. “And you love each other.” He gave a winning smile. “Bye.” And then he scrambled off Oliver’s shoulder onto the porch wall and scampered away out of sight.

“That one’s going to get you into some trouble one day,” Felicity noted.

“Yeah, I have a feeling he will,” Oliver said.

“Once he gets talking, he doesn’t stop, is what I learnt last night,” the blonde said. “Especially when it comes to topics he’s passionate about.” She crossed her arms over her chest and said lightly, “Like a certain bow-wielding, arrow-shooting vigilante.”

There was a teasing lilt to her voice which caused Oliver to only stiffen and avert his gaze rather than completely freeze up. So Felicity did know. He seriously needed to have a conversation with Xad about keeping his blabbing mouth shut.

“Xad was telling Issa all about your crusade and I… might have eavesdropped a bit. It’s okay,” she reassured quietly. “I’m not going to tell anybody. I’ll be honest, I kind of admire you. You’re obviously a very determined and persevering person.”

“That’s the nice way of saying you think I’m stubborn,” Oliver smiled.

“I’m the same,” Felicity shrugged. “All I’m going to say is… if you ever need any technical help with anything you come up against… you know where to find me. And if you give me your phone, I’ll give you my personal cell so you can call me if you need me.”

She held her hand out and beckoned for him to pass his phone over, so Oliver fished it out and gave it to her without question. He was astonished that this was going so well. Felicity didn’t seem to be judging him at all. He would have thought she would hate him for being the vigilante, but she… admired him? He was lost for words.

“There you go,” she slapped his phone back into his hand. “I’ve gotta head out because I have to type some stuff up from my meeting with Walter, but I’ll see you tomorrow for Italian?”

“Definitely,” he confirmed.

“Are you two going to kiss again?” came Issa’s muffled voice from Felicity’s pocket.

“No,” Felicity told her, poking her finger into the pocket which elicited a squeal. “We’ve got stuff to do.”

“Aww, why haven’t we got stuff to do with Oliver and Xad?”

“We do, tomorrow.”

“I can wait until then,” Issa grumbled, the fabric of the pocket shifting.

Felicity raised her gaze to meet Oliver’s and smiled at him, squeezing his hand and whispering goodbye before leaving. The archer watched her trot down the porch steps and then followed her car, an adorable Mini Cooper, as she drove up and out of the drive, vanishing beyond the gates and bushes.

Xad poked his head up from behind the porch wall. “Did you kiss again?”

“You and Issa are going to be the death of Felicity and me,” Oliver said, exasperated.

“Okay. But did you?”

Oliver shook his head, rolling his eyes as he turned away from his dragon, grabbing the door handle to let himself back into the mansion.

“Oliver! Don’t you dare ignore me! Did you kiss again!? I need to know.”

“You can ask Issa tomorrow,” he replied.

“But tomorrow is forever away!” Xad groaned, flying up to the archer’s shoulder. “I haven’t got enough patience to wait until then!”

Oliver smiled to himself. Tomorrow he was going on a date with Felicity.

“You know what? Neither have I.”

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Thank you for reading, please leave kudos and comment.
> 
> Tumblr: @alexiablackbriar13  
> Twitter: @lexiblackbriar13


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